BEACOPP: a new regimen for advanced Hodgkin's disease. German Hodgkin's Lymphoma Study Group.

The BEACOPP chemotherapy regimen for advanced Hodgkin's disease employs a rearranged schedule permitting a shortened three-week cycle. With haematological growth factor support, the dosages of cyclophosphamide, etoposide and adriamycin could be moderately escalated. The 3-armed multicentre HD9 trial (recruitment 1993-1998; 1300 patients randomised) aimed to compare BEACOPP with the standard COPP/ABVD chemotherapy and to detect and measure the gain in efficacy, if any, due to moderate dose escalation of BEACOPP.

BEACOPP, a new dose-escalated and accelerated regimen, is at least as effective as COPP/ABVD in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma: interim report from a trial of the German Hodgkin's Lymphoma Study Group.

Purpose: The HD9 trial aims to evaluate whether moderate dose escalation and/or acceleration of standard polychemotherapy is beneficial for advanced-stage Hodgkin's disease (HD). Two variants of a novel bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (BEACOPP) scheme (standard and escalated dose) are compared with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (COPP)/doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD).

Patients And Methods: The randomized, three-arm trial recruited patients in stages IIB and IIIA with risk factors and stages IIIB and IV.